Oldtown News

My look at the issues of our Oldtown neighborhood and other political news

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

STOLEN FUNDS and a MAN WHO WANTS to be MAYOR

STOLEN FUNDS and a MAN WHO WANTS to be MAYOR

Leading up to the final days of the Vancouver municipal campaign, I hope citizens of Vancouver will look closely at Jim Green. The man from the USA who wants to be Mayor and Chair of the Vancouver police board is at least according to others, "a very shady character".

Today, I released documents about Jim Green's years at DERA. I brought this information forward because, the women who should have brought this matter before the public, fears for her personal safety. This woman who I will name provided information on Jim Green and I had no other option than to disclose the details.

A looming question is whether this woman should fear Mr. Jim Green who hails from Alabama? I think Ms Sorensen should only fear for her safety if the information she has, continued to remain secret as it had for the last 12 years.

Ms Karen Sorensen was second-in-command to Mr. Green at DERA from 1991-1992. She and Mr. Green were the only two employees in management at DERA. The rest of the employees were members of the CUPE 1004 Union.

Ms Sorensen provided me a letter written by Jim Green to her from September, 1992. In the letter, Mr. Green acknowledges his partial repayment of a loan he secured from his employee, Ms Sorensen, totalling thousands of dollars. In the handwritten letter authored and signed by Jim Green, he thanks her for the loan she provided him in mid march of 1992. This is the exact same time period when the missing funds at DERA became publicly known.

Further, Ms Sorensen has gone to the Vancouver City Police last Thursday and spoke about her involvement and others who provided assistance to Mr. Green. She spoke about the covering up of $20,000 from DERA. Ms Sorensen attended the VPD Cambie St station with her legal counsel.

Ms Sorensen feels great shame, remorse and guilt over her particpation in this matter. She decided to address this missing funds at DERA because of Mr. Green's blatant attempts to become Mayor of this City.

Ms Sorensen is very clear about one thing. She wanted to protect the organization, DERA, which she worked for. She honestly believed that if this matter of Mr. Green's alleged involvement in the misappropriation of $20,000 came to light, the organization which assisted poor people would no doubt lose all credibility and quite possibly all its funding.

After Mr. Green approached Ms Sorensen to assist him in what has been called "Abuse" in a City of Vancouver 1992 leaked report, which is now in the possession of this blogwriter--Ms Sorensen had grave concerns about assisting Mr Green. She waywardly believed by assisting Mr Green in re-paying the thousands of dollars taken from DERA in alleged unauthorized payroll advances--that she was doing the right thing. This cover-up was accomplished through the co-operation of a few others at DERA. Of course, the Police are now aware of this information.

Ms Sorensen believed once the funds were re-payed to DERA she could work with the puppet board put in place by Mr. Green to resolve the outstanding issue of whether Mr Green was suitable to remain as head of a publicly funded organization that assists poor people. Ms Sorensen and other employees of DERA allege that Mr. Green was responsible for the "ABUSE" of DERA public funds in 1992.

Ms Sorensen never got the chance to address this with the board in 1992, since Mr. Green fired her two months later in May after receiving from her this generous loan of thousands of dollars.

A few looming questions remains:

1) Should Mr Green be the leader of a beautiful Canadian City when his past clearly demonstrates he has not coped well around financial and public trust issues in his working life here in Canada?

2) Does Mr Green not see the error of his ways in asking an employee who he has enormous control over to loan him thousands of dollars? Doesn't he see that this goes right to the heart of questionable ethics, abuse of power and authority?

Citizens, if you wish to comment please do. Or better yet call me. Don't let this matter rest. Justice even if its 12 years late in arriving should nevertheless prevail!